Digital Noir, 2001–Present

Abstract

Digital Noir covers neo-noir films in the twenty-first century. The idea of “digital” pervades not only the look of these films but also their response to the time. These films find male heroes lost on the digital grid, unsure of time and place. Watching Digital Noir often forces the viewer into new positions of negotiating the film viewing experience. Man on Fire (Tony Scott 2004) follows a hero into his last battle with the digital world. In John Wick (Chad Stahelski 2014) the hero re-enters a network of crime from which he had retired. In both sample films, as in all Digital Noir, the heroes come to question the validity of their identity in a new, digital world.

Appendix

Digital Noir Film List

• Spy Game (2001), d. Tony Scott

• Training Day (2001), d. Antoine Fuqua

• The Salton Sea (2002), d. D.J. Caruso

• Collateral (2004), d. Michael Mann

• Man on Fire (2004), d. Tony Scott

• Domino (2005), d. Tony Scott

• Miami Vice (2006), d. Michael Mann

• Déjà Vu (2006), d. Tony Scott

• Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), d. Sidney Lumet

• Gone Baby Gone (2007), d. Ben Affleck

• Taken (2008), d. Pierre Morel (sequels)

• Inception (2010), d. Christopher Nolan

• Unknown (2011), d. Jaume Collet-Serra

• John Wick (2014), d. Chad Stahelski (sequels)

• The Equalizer (2014), d. Antoine Fuqua (sequel)

• Blackhat (2015), d. Michael Mann (recut 2017)

• The Accountant (2016), d. Gavin O’Connor